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Pevensey Castle, Sussex

Location
(50°49′3″N, 0°20′7″E)
Pevensey Castle
TQ 646 046
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Sussex
now East Sussex
  • Kathryn A Morrison
  • Kathryn A Morrison
5 August 1990; 8 June 2026

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Description

This ruined medieval castle stands on the site of a Roman fort. While the walls of the outer bailey date largely from the Roman period, much of the standing fabric of the inner bailey dates from the 12thc. and 13thc., including the keep, the chapel and the towers. The chapel comprised an unaisled nave and square-ended chancel. The walls stand to a height of approximately 1ft. and the damaged font is displayed within the nave.

History

The castle fell into disrepair in the late medieval period, when the port silted up and the fortune of the town declined. Several fragments of worked stone were discovered during the excavations of 1852 by Mark Antony Lower and Roach Smith, at the W end of the castle chapel. The font was located opposite the S door of the chapel, 11ft. 6ins. from the W end step.

Features

Furnishings

Fonts

Loose Sculpture

Bibliography

M. A. Lower, 'On Pevensey Castle, and Recent Excavations there. With a Plan of the Castle, and Discoveries, by William Figg', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 6, 1853, 265-82.

M. A. Lower, 'Antiquities preserved in the Society's museum at Lewes Castle' Sussex Archaeological Collections, 18, 1866, 60-73.

A. Mee, The King's England: Sussex, London 1937 (revised and edited by C. L. S.Linnell 1964), 154.

I. Nairn and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Sussex, Harmondsworth 1965, 580-81.

Sir Charles Peers, 'Pevensey Castle', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 74, 1933, 1-16.

L. F. Salzman, 'Documents relating to Pevensey Castle', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 49, 1906, 1-30.

L. F. Salzman, 'Excavations at Pevensey, 1906-7', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 51, 1908, 99-114; 52, 1909, 83-95.

A. K. Walker, An Introduction to the Study of English fonts with details of those in Sussex, London 1908, 50-51.